North Carolina·Business and Financial Operations Occupations·SOC 13-2072

Best Loan Officer programs in North Carolina, ranked by enrollment

Evaluate, authorize, or recommend approval of commercial, real estate, or credit loans. Advise borrowers on financial status and payment methods.

18 schools in North Carolina run programs that feed this job, graduating 1,289 people a year. The job pays a median of $75,920 in North Carolina across about 10,700 jobs (BLS OEWS May 2025).

Also calledLoan OfficerLoan CounselorCommercial Loan OfficerFinancial Aid CounselorLenderUnderwriterBank OfficerLoan Adviser
Graduates / yr
1,289
in North Carolina
Median pay · North Carolina
$75,920
BLS OEWS May 2025
Jobs in state
10,700
people employed
Schools
18
with a feeder program
Avg graduation rate
62%
across those schools
Median net price
$23,331
per year, IPEDS

Fields of study in North Carolina that lead to this job

Grouped at the 4-digit CIP level. Numbers are graduates per year in this state.

1 programs in North Carolina that lead to this job

Ranked by graduates per year in North Carolina (IPEDS completions). Graduate earnings and debt are national College Scorecard figures reported at the 4-digit CIP level, so specializations within one field share a figure. Each program also links to its own North Carolina page.

Degree programs that lead to this occupation, ranked by graduates per year
#ProgramGraduates / yrShare of pipelineSchoolsGrad earnings (1 yr)Median debt
11,289
100.0%
18$53,572$23,672

Top 18 schools in North Carolina

Ranked by graduates per year into this job. Graduate earnings are reported for 10 of the 18 schools in this state.

Schools ranked by graduates per year into this occupation
#SchoolGraduates / yrTop feeder programGrad earnings (1 yr)Grad rateNet priceAcceptance
1University of North Carolina at Charlotte
Charlotte, NC Public · 1 feeder programs
380Finance, General$51,62869%80%
2Wake Forest University
Winston-Salem, NC Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs
143Finance, General$85,94489%$20,91422%
3Elon University
Elon, NC Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs
134Finance, General$66,61484%$33,68866%
4East Carolina University
Greenville, NC Public · 1 feeder programs
121Finance, General$51,50163%89%
5Appalachian State University
Boone, NC Public · 1 feeder programs
120Finance, General$52,00475%90%
6High Point University
High Point, NC Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs
85Finance, General74%$37,07275%
7Western Carolina University
Cullowhee, NC Public · 1 feeder programs
76Finance, General$40,57560%82%
8University of North Carolina at Greensboro
Greensboro, NC Public · 1 feeder programs
75Finance, General$40,44556%89%
9North Carolina State University at Raleigh
Raleigh, NC Public · 1 feeder programs
33Finance, General$107,35985%42%
10North Carolina A & T State University
Greensboro, NC Public · 1 feeder programs
28Finance, General57%50%
11Wingate University
Wingate, NC Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs
20Finance, General$46,59146%$21,58591%
12Lenoir - Rhyne University
Hickory, NC Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs
19Finance, General48%$23,92085%
13Queens University of Charlotte
Charlotte, NC Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs
13Finance, General61%$24,87262%
14Gardner - Webb University
Boiling Springs, NC Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs
11Finance, General55%$22,86377%
15Fayetteville State University
Fayetteville, NC Public · 1 feeder programs
10Finance, General38%82%
16Belmont Abbey College
Belmont, NC Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs
8Finance, General47%$22,63975%
17Campbell University
Buies Creek, NC Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs
7Finance, General$60,44561%$23,33187%
18University of Mount Olive
Mount Olive, NC Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs
6Finance, General52%$16,47376%

All 18 schools in North Carolina

Every school in North Carolina with a program that feeds this job, ordered by graduates per year. Earnings are shown for the ranked schools above; open a school profile for the rest.

All schools in North Carolina that feed this occupation
SchoolCityControlGraduates / yrFeeder programs
University of North Carolina at CharlotteCharlottePublic3801
Wake Forest UniversityWinston-SalemPrivate not-for-profit1431
Elon UniversityElonPrivate not-for-profit1341
East Carolina UniversityGreenvillePublic1211
Appalachian State UniversityBoonePublic1201
High Point UniversityHigh PointPrivate not-for-profit851
Western Carolina UniversityCullowheePublic761
University of North Carolina at GreensboroGreensboroPublic751
North Carolina State University at RaleighRaleighPublic331
North Carolina A & T State UniversityGreensboroPublic281
Wingate UniversityWingatePrivate not-for-profit201
Lenoir - Rhyne UniversityHickoryPrivate not-for-profit191
Queens University of CharlotteCharlottePrivate not-for-profit131
Gardner - Webb UniversityBoiling SpringsPrivate not-for-profit111
Fayetteville State UniversityFayettevillePublic101

What loan officers earn in North Carolina

What people already working in this job earn (BLS OEWS May 2025). Not graduate earnings.

Median annual in North Carolina
$75,920
Mean annual
$84,160
Jobs in state
10,700
What the range looks like
10th pct$43,270Median$75,92090th pct$130,480
Versus the national median
-1.0%

U.S. median $76,690. North Carolina pays below the national figure.

Job concentration
1.23×

Concentrated here: North Carolina employs more of this job per worker than the U.S. average.

Metro areas in North Carolina

Wilmington, NC
$82,340median
520 jobs
Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia, NC-SC
$78,200median
4,080 jobs
Raleigh-Cary, NC
$77,330median
1,560 jobs
Pinehurst-Southern Pines, NC
$66,060median
50 jobs
Goldsboro, NC
$67,370median
60 jobs
Asheville, NC
$76,070median
190 jobs
Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton, NC
$63,420median
130 jobs
Winston-Salem, NC
$73,070median
300 jobs

Job outlook

Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Projections, 2024 to 2034.

Projected growth 2024–34
+1.7%
Little or no change
Openings per year
20,300
new jobs plus replacements
Employment change
5,000
301,400 → 306,500
Typical entry education
Bachelor's degree
Plus moderate-term on-the-job training

Growth and openings are national. The Bureau of Labor Statistics does not publish employment projections at state level, so these figures describe the occupation across the whole U.S., not this state alone.

How to get in

The full skills, tools, and day-to-day breakdown lives on the national Loan Officers page.

How to become a Loan Officer

Job zone 4 of 5 · SVP 7.0 to < 8.0
Typical entry education
Bachelor's degree
Work experience needed
Less than 5 years
On-the-job training
Moderate-term on-the-job training

Most of these occupations require a four-year bachelor's degree, but some do not.

A considerable amount of work-related skill, knowledge, or experience is needed for these occupations. For example, an accountant must complete four years of college and work for several years in accounting to be considered qualified.

Employees in these occupations usually need several years of work-related experience, on-the-job training, and/or vocational training.

Top skills

Active ListeningSpeakingReading ComprehensionCritical ThinkingWritingMathematics

The same job in other states

Where else this occupation employs the most people, and what it pays there.

Related careers in North Carolina

Every major mapped to this job

The official federal mapping behind the rankings above.

All 2 majors mapped to Loan Officers2 of them graduated someone in the latest IPEDS year. NCES CIP 2020 → SOC 2018 crosswalk.+
  • 52.0801Finance, General
  • 52.0809Credit Management

Common questions

Answers for people weighing loan officers programs in North Carolina.

What degree do you need to become a Loan Officer?+

Bachelor's degree is the typical entry-level education BLS reports for this occupation. The most common program people actually graduate from is Finance, General, which awarded 1,289 degrees in North Carolina in 2024-25, 100.0% of everyone graduating from a program that feeds this career.

Which college majors lead to becoming a Loan Officer?+

The NCES CIP-to-SOC crosswalk maps 1 programs to this occupation. The largest are Finance and Financial Management Services. Together they graduate about 1,289 people a year in North Carolina.

How much do loan officers earn in North Carolina?+

The median is $75,920 a year (BLS OEWS May 2025). That is 1.0% below the U.S. median of $76,690. This is pay for people already working in the occupation, not the same thing as graduate earnings one year after finishing a degree.

Is demand for loan officers growing?+

BLS projects a +1.7% change in employment between 2024 and 2034, little or no change, with roughly 20,300 openings a year nationally once retirements and job changes are counted.

How many schools offer programs for this career in North Carolina?+

18 institutions in North Carolina reported graduates from at least one of the 1 programs that feed this occupation in IPEDS 2024-25. Rankings on this page use graduates per year, because the federal data publishes no enrollment count by program.

What other job titles do loan officers work under?+

Employers advertise this work under many names. O*NET records Loan Officer, Loan Counselor, Commercial Loan Officer, Financial Aid Counselor among the most commonly reported, all mapping to SOC 13-2072.

Related careers in North CarolinaCredit AnalystsPersonal Financial Advisors
Programs in North CarolinaFinance, General

About the data on this page

Rankings use IPEDS completions 2024–25, degrees awarded per year. That is the closest federal measure of how many people a program puts into a career, because no federal dataset publishes enrollment by program. Wages and employment come from BLS OEWS May 2025, growth and openings from BLS Employment Projections 2024-34, and which majors lead to which jobs from the NCES CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 crosswalk. Occupation descriptions, tasks, skills and tools are O*NET 30.3 (CC BY 4.0, U.S. Department of Labor/ETA).

  • BLS Occupational Employment & Wage Statistics

    May 2025

    Wages, employment counts, location quotients and metro breakdowns.

  • BLS Employment Projections

    2024–34

    Projected growth, annual openings and typical entry-level education.

  • IPEDS Completions

    2024-25 (provisional)

    Graduates per year by program and institution — the ranking metric.

  • College Scorecard, Field of Study

    2020-21 cohorts

    Median graduate earnings one year after completion, and median debt.

  • Census Post-Secondary Employment Outcomes

    latest available

    Graduate earnings 1/5/10 years out, where the state participates.

  • NCES CIP 2020 and the CIP-to-SOC 2018 crosswalk

    CIP 2020 / SOC 2018

    Which college programs officially lead to this occupation.

  • O*NET Database 30.3

    30.3

    Tasks, skills, knowledge, tools, job zone and alternate job titles.

    Official source →CC BY 4.0, U.S. Department of Labor / ETA

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